Week of June 4, 2018

Dear 3EV Families,

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of our year together in 3rd grade! It has been such an amazing year. Thank you so much to everyone who made it to our poetry learning celebration. The students enjoyed sharing their poems and writing poems together. Another huge thank you to all of the parents that brought in yummy treats for our end of year celebration. Check the photo tab to see some pictures.

This week begins on a Day 5.

We will be busy finishing projects, updating blogs, and reflecting on our year together. Please take some extra time to talk with your child about the end of the year. Emotions are running high and students are experiencing many feelings.

If your child has any library books at home, please send them to school as soon as possible. If you find any classlibrary books please send them in. If you find any next year Ms. Jamie will pass them on to me:)

Before the end of the week, we will be sending home links for summer practice. This will include math sites, writing prompts, reading recommendations, and other ideas. Students will also be putting together some of their photos from the year. If you have photos of the kids this year and are able to share them, we would appreciate it. Please add them to this folder.

Have a great week!

Week of May 28

Hello 3EV Families, 

Wow! What a wonderful week we had in grade 3. Students have been busy writing and reading poetry, representing data in graphs, and reflecting on their learning in grade 3.

 A huge thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped out on Wet & Wild day! Students and adults were playing in the mud, collaborating constructively, and having fun!! Please take a look at the class pictures on the blog (many taken by Dominique- many thanks to her!).

 This week begins on a Day 2. There is no school on Tuesday, May 29th due to a public holiday and Friday, June 1 there is no school for students. 

 Our Learning Celebration is this week. We are so excited to share all of our poetry with you! You might want to download a QR code reader on to your phone for this event. This is going to be our last time all together and we will have a short celebration immediately following the learning share in each classroom. Thank you in advance to our GLC and room parents for organizing. Hope to see you all on Wednesday morning.

Reading/Writing: Students will continue their exploration of poetry and share with all of you on Wednesday. Then students will revisit their favorite type of writing (narrative, nonfiction, opinion, fantasy) this year and plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish one last final piece of writing as a third-grade student! We will Skype with Amy Ludwig Vanderwater on Monday- if you have time to look at her blogs with your child this weekend that would be great. If your child has any questions s/he would like to ask they can be added to the document in Classroom. 

Math: This week we will continue reviewing some of the major math concepts we have learned during our year. These include adding and subtraction numbers in the hundreds, multiplication, division, elapsed time, geometry, area and perimeter, and lastly fractions.

 Genius Hour/ Passion Projects: Students will have time to work on their chosen projects. Students are busy writing scripts, building movie sets, create stop-animation movies, creating art out recycled materials, making podcasts, etc. They will have time to find a good ending point for these projects or decide next steps they would like to take outside of school. Please ask your child about their project.

 Home learning is not required the last two weeks, but here are some options to choose from as we say goodbye to our third-grade year together.

Sivert will have his last day of school on Monday (but will be back in August). Arjun, Zara, Vincent, and Maria will all leave ISKL as they move on to the US, Vietnam, Spain, and Russia respectively. Goodbyes are hard, but we are glad that we are continuing to make memories together in these last days and in this age of technology it is easier than ever to stay in touch. It is hard to believe that this is the second to last week of school!

Week of May 21, 2018

Hello 3EV Families,

This week was a busy week with our math assessment on fractions, our satellite testing, and writing poems. Look for the math assessment to come home this week. Please check the class blog for photos of our satellite testing. 

This week begins on a Day 3.

Our Learning Celebration is fast approaching. Please mark it on your calendar. We have heard from the administration and to clarify, we will be serving food during the celebration. It will also be running a bit longer and will end at 9:15. The team will be providing coffee and tea. If you can not attend the Learning Celebration, please let me know so that I can arrange for another adult to sit with your child.

A note from the PE department: On Friday, May 25th ISKL will have the traditional Parent Run (PE team assisted) Wet & Wild Day. There will be numerous water activities and games taking place on the lower field which will be revealed on the day. Grade 3 will be at Wet & Wild from 10:50-11:40. Parents are welcome to come along. 

Students will need to 

- Come down to the field ready to go dressed in their water attire, 

- Have school clothing in a bag to change into after the session.

- Bring a towel, drink bottle & hat

- Only go into the change rooms after their session

Reading/Writing: Students will explore what is a simile and a metaphor. Once they understand what the difference is between them, students will begin to write poems that include similes or metaphors. Students will also choose words and mood to add meaning to their writing. We will pay close attention to the last line of a poem, noticing that often the end of a poem offers new insights into the rest of the text. 

Math: This week we will be reviewing some of the major math concepts we have learned during our year. For the last three weeks, we will be working on the math units from the entire year. These include adding and subtraction numbers in the hundreds, multiplication, division, elapsed time, geometry, area and perimeter, and lastly fractions.  

Science: Students will revisit the concept of patterns such as seasons and night and day. We will also review some of the concepts from the beginning of the unit. Check the class blog for posts about our learning!  

Learning Celebration Update

A note from Julie:

Teachers will work with parents to plan the end of year special events.  This includes the Wet and Wild Day as well as a culminating gathering immediately following the grade 3 final Learning Celebration.  We apologize for any confusion or incorrect messages regarding food not being served.  Teachers were not given clear guidelines on how to approach the Ramadan time relative to food at school events.  As an international school, we are respectful of all cultures and religions.  Our current practice and guidelines for end of year celebrations will continue as always.  I am confident that students will enjoy the planned events!

Week of May 14

Hello 3EV Families,

This week is a return to a full week of school. Monday will be a Day 4. 

ASAs are finished for the year, except for Thursday/Friday of this week. With the recent unexpected public holidays declared, we are rescheduling our Thursday and Friday After School Activities (ASAs) to next week (Thursday 17th & Friday 18th May).

It is important that our students have proper closure to their ASAs.  Several performances have been scheduled, belt grading in our martial arts classes and the list goes on. Normal activity buses will operate for these two days only.  Track and field athletes who don't have an ASA on Thursday, will attend Late Sport Supervision in the library as they would normally.

ISAC track and field athletes as you missed training last week, we are extending this Tuesdays session to run from 2:45-4:30pm.  Parents will be required to be at school to pick you up at 4.30pm sharp Tuesday 15th. The pick-up time on Thursday will be the usual 5pm. 

ALL OTHER ASAS HAVE NOW FINISHED AS PER NORMAL SCHOOL CALENDAR.  ALL STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE 2:45pm BUS HOME this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Your child will be coming home on their normal 2:45 bus after school.

Ramadan is starting on May 15th. If your child is fasting, please contact me so that I know. If your child is fasting, they can read in the library during recess time if they choose, but will be expected to participate in some modified PE activities.

Our Learning Celebration is fast approaching. Please mark it on your calendar. As the celebration is during Ramadan we will not be serving coffee or food. 

Reading/Writing: Students will find poems with strong feelings and concrete details of life. Next, students will include sensory details to elaborate and revise their work.

Math: This is our final week for the fractions unit. We will review the main math concepts for this unit.

           They include 

• Partition shapes.
• Represent equal parts of a whole as a fraction.
• Construct visual representation of equivalent fractions.

• Identify equivalent fractions.
• Use a number line to order and compare fractions.

Science: This week students will build a satellite. The goal is for it to drop from a height while holding an egg and to land so that the egg does not break. We are looking for parent volunteers to have their child bring in hard-boiled eggs for this investigation. Please contact me if you are able to do so. 

Please check at home for any class library books. I need to start organizing for my move, so ask that all books be returned no later than Thursday, May 31. 

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Week of May 2, 2018

Hello 3EV Families, 

I hope you are enjoying the long weekend. This past week we were busy building and testing our rockets. We learned about the engineering process as we tested and revised our rockets. Check the photo section of the blog for pictures of our designs. 

Ms. Julie came around and spoke to the grade level about "the home stretch". We are entering the last six weeks of school. It is important that we stay focused on the learning and the tasks we need to finish before the break. Please help by ensuring bedtime stays consistent. At this time of year, students may need extra sleep. 

Next week we will begin our last unit in reading and writing. It will be a unit on poetry. We will be having a learning celebration on Wednesday, May 30th from 8:15-9:00. We hope you will be able to join us. 

A friendly reminder that we do not have school on Monday or Tuesday (Labor Day and bridging day). 

 Wednesday will be a Day 2.

Reading/ Writing

This week we will begin our poetry unit. We will begin our work on ways that readers identify characteristics of poetry (line breaks, white space, shorter, repetition, figurative language, punctuation, meant to be read aloud, emotional and so much more). Please have your child bring in a few poems (home language encouraged) to share.

Math

Students continue their work with fractions. This week we will compare fractions on the number line by reasoning about their distance from 0.

Science

Students will blog about their rocket launch. We will focus our short week on the concept of gravity.

If your family is (or may be) leaving ISKL at the end of the school year please inform the school so that we can do all we can to help make the transition smooth. Ms. Stone will start meeting with leaving students soon. 

Thanks for your ongoing support! 

Week of April 23

Dear Parents, 

This past week, students practiced creating podcasts. They used their understanding of planets as the topic and Garage Band as the format. Hopefully, we can get these published on their blogs later this week. Click HERE to find a list of podcasts that are great for kids to listen to. I especially recommend the one titled Wow in the World.

Students enjoyed sharing their fiction writing with other grade three students. Click here to see a few pictures of that event, as well as other recent photos.

Reminder: Students will be taking the reading portion of the MAPs test in the morning on Monday, April 23. Please make sure they get a good nights sleep Sunday night and arrive at school on time. 

Save the date: On May 30th from 8:15-9:00a.m., Grade Three will host a Poetry Parent Share. We look forward to seeing you then!

Monday will be a Day 3.

Reading

This week students will finish up comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the two planets that they researched. This will be followed by a summative culminating activity. The activity will provide students with different choices for how they want to synthesize and present their research to the grade.

Writing

Students will be using this writing time to create reports about our planets. Also, time will be spent during writing to plan and design a model of their satellite.

Math

Students will practice placing fractions between 0 and 1 on a number line. The will also practice putting fractions greater than one on a number line. They will also begin to explore equivalent fractions.

Science

Students will become engineers and use the design thinking model to think about satellites and how to build one and land it successfully. They will work in collaborative teams, using recycled material, to build a satellite.

Week of April 16, 2018

Dear Parents, 

This past week, students were fascinated to track the sunrises and sunsets of different cities around the world, noticing the differences from one day to the next as well as from one location to the next. They also studied their shadows at different times of the day to make connections between the Earth and Sun and how it impacts day and night. We have begun learning how to make podcasts via Garage Band. You may want to have a listen to Wow in the World with your child- it is a great podcast for families. Common Sense Media also wrote about podcasts recently. Your child will share their own podcast on their blog soon. 

Friday your child took home pre and post assessments for our fairy tale/fantasy writing unit. Please spend a few minutes looking over the rubric and work with your child. Math assessments went home the week before. 

This week is Earth Week at Melawati. Please read the newsletter from the GLC or the Panther News for more information on that. We need your help to send in photos and video.

On Thursday morning, April 19th, students will be taking the first part of the MAPs test. Please make sure that your child has a good night's sleep and arrives on time.

Monday will be a Day 4.

Reading

Students will begin research on a second planet this week. By the end of this week, they will have learned a significant amount about one inner planet and one outer planet. They will continue to engage in discussions with others to help further synthesize information. Finally, they will use the two planets to compare and contrast their similarities and differences.

Writing
We will be finishing up our fantasy writing unit this week. Students will have an opportunity to share their final drafts at the end of the week with other third graders. 

Math
Students will be comparing fractions this week. They will compare unit fractions by reasoning about their size using fraction strips and compare unit fractions with different sized models representing the whole. Has your child shown fluency with math facts? If not, please have her/him practice for a few minutes each day.

Science

Students will continue to look for predictable patterns about the Sun, the Moon and the Earth and how they interact.

Please continue to look for class library books at home. 

This week we welcome Eshani Gale to 3EV. She is moving here from the US. 

Week of April 9, 2018

Dear Parents,

Students had lots of questions and were very eager to begin our new Earth and Space unit. The tuning in activities helped to generate wonderings and build excitement. 

Similar enthusiasm and wonderings came up as we started our final math unit of the school year on Fractions. Here again are the vocabulary words for the unit. The assessment for the previous unit was sent home on Wednesday, please ask your child to share this with you if you have not already seen it. 

We begin the week on Day 5.

Reading

Students will conduct research on a planet that they are interested in learning about. They will use a variety of texts and digital materials, synthesise the important information about their subtopics, and record it in their own words. You can find out more about this unit, including vocabulary and resources by clicking HERE.

Writing

Students are continuing with fiction writing. They will continue to write adapted fairytales but also may branch out into other fantasy and creative writing choices. Additionally, students will begin to look at writing longer and more detailed/complex sentences. 

Math

Students will continue to practice partitioning shapes into equal parts. They will explain a unit fraction as part of a whole. They will represent/show different fractions and explain their representation. Please encourage your child to continue to practice basic facts if they are not confident with them yet. Reflex is a subscription website that your child can use at home (please let me know if you need password information again).

Science

Students will take a look at some of the important technological developments throughout history that have enabled us to learn more about the solar system. They will explore how technology helps us learn about the solar system and beyond.

Please remind your child to look at home for books from the classroom library, as many are missing. As a general rule, your child should have one book a night out from the class library.

Students are encouraged to work on their Genius Hour project at home if they like.

Have a great week!

Week of April 2, 2018

Dear Parents,

Hopefully, you and your family had a relaxing and fun holiday. We are now set up for our final stretch of the school year. A time that promises lots of learning and growth, and it will go by quickly. We have several new units scheduled to begin this week! 

If you took a photo of your child reading this break please email it to me and Ms. Suji. 

The Terry Fox Run on March 23rd was quite successful for third graders. They learned more about cancer awareness, participated in an important community event at school, and were inspired to do their personal best for the fun run. 

We begin the week on Day 6. 

Reading

This week begins with a new nonfiction reading unit called Research Reading. Students will start off by looking over their resources and organizing them. They will then identify subtopics within the topic they are studying and begin to synthesise the information to become experts.  

Writing

Students are continuing the fiction writing unit from before the holiday. They will not only continue to write adapted fairytales but also branch out into other fantasy and creative writing choices. 

Math

Students will begin a new unit in math this week titled Representing and Comparing Fractions. They will begin by partitioning shapes into parts with equal areas. They will express the areas of each part as a unit fraction of the whole. For example, partitioning a shape into 4 parts with equal area, and describing the area of each part as 1/4 of the area of the shape. This is a very important unit with lots of new skills and concepts introduced.

Science

We start the week with a very exciting new science unit called Earth and Space. They will begin the unit by tuning in to prior knowledge and generating a list of wonderings. They will also take a look at technology and try to find out how technology can help us to learn about the solar system. If you have any connections to people who would be good resources for this unit, please let us know.

Week of March 19, 2018

Dear Parents,
It was great to see so many of you at school on Friday supporting the Track and Field Fun Day. This Friday you will have another opportunity to join in as Grade 3 participates in the Terry Fox Run at 8:45-9:30. Your child should come ready in their PE clothing with their uniform in a bag to change into afterwards.

We begin the week on Day 6 (due to a missed day earlier this year), but Tuesday will be Day 2 (followed by Days 3, 4, 5).

Several students have been busy this month doing the Slice of Life Classroom Challenge! A few have done it every day for the month of March so far. Others have done it periodically. If your child has not done it yet, it is not too late to have them begin. You can view them here. Feel free to leave a comment! It would be great to have more students participate- maybe over the break when there is more free time. Remind students to send me the link to their post so that I can link it to the SoL blog. 

Reading
We are finishing up our fiction character book club unit. As we compare and contrast characters (their traits, motivations, and other characteristics), we will also look at how they face the problems they encounter. Hopefully, there will be some time for mini debates where students can use text evidence to support their position.

Writing
Students are drafting another fairy tale adaptation and are making revisions early and often based on their goals so that their writing continues to improve. We are looking at creating stronger images, balancing narration with dialogue, and editing for sentence variety. After the break, we will continue with fantasy/fiction writing for a few weeks.

Math
This week we finish up our geometry unit solving perimeter problems with unknown sides and more. You will see the assessment for the unit come home after the break. Our next unit is all about fractions. It is important that students have a solid background with multiplication and division facts (to 10 x 10) and regular practice at home will be beneficial.

Social Studies
This week students will synthesize all that they have learned about ancient civilizations as they create a civilization of their own. Students will have a choice in how they share their learning. Our next science unit is about earth and space. It will include hands-on research as students design solutions to problems.

After this busy week, we wish you a relaxing break and look forward to seeing the students back afterwards on April 2 ( which will be a Day 6) for our fourth quarter.

Week of March 12, 2018

Week of March 12, 2018

Dear Parents,

A heartfelt thanks to you for attending your child's Student Led Conference and participating actively in your child's education. It was impressive to watch the students discuss their growth and goals and teach their parents more about their learning in this third quarter of the school year. Remember there are many resources on the ES Parent Learning Connection that you can use to help your child practice. Many students could use daily practice with basic math facts. A reminder to check your class photo tab to see recent pictures. If you find anything in your child's conference folder that belongs back at school please send it in. Please look for your child's fairy tale draft in particular to return. 

This week we begin on Day 3. 

Reading

Students will look at the lessons they can learn alongside the main characters in a book (beginning theme work), look back to notice author's craft and how various parts of the story connect, and compare and contrast main characters and how they react to problems. It is great to practice this same work when you read aloud to your child (in any language). 

Writing

Students will use self assessment to set goals for future writing projects and begin new pieces with more independence. The emphasis will be on revising early and often and balancing dialogue with actions and narration so that the story comes to life. 

Math

We continue to work on perimeter including solving for unknown sides. We also explore the relationship between perimeter and area (for example, if a rectangle has an area of 12 sq. cm, what are possible side lengths and then calculate the perimeter). 

Social Studies

We will look at beliefs, art and architecture, and technology in the coming days. We will focus on the legacy these civilizations left behind and the connections to our life today.

Reminders

On Friday from 8:15-11 Grade 3-5 will be participating in a Track and Field Day. The PE Department reminds you: Students need to come prepared with water, running shoes and a hat, and be wearing sunscreen.  Students should be wearing their school PE uniform.  The students will not have time to go to the canteen for a morning snack. Therefore, they must bring a healthy snack from home out to the field with them.  Snacks can be left up in the bleachers at the side of the field. They can munch on their snack in between events.  Students must also bring their school uniform to change into at the end of the track meet. Parents are welcome to come along to support.

Week of February 26, 2018

The Chinese New Year Cultural Celebration at Melawati was a great day of fun and learning! In the week ahead we look forward to Book Week! Ms. Suji has some special events planned. Remember to send in gently used books for the book swap by Wednesday. The "Book Character Dress Up Day" is now Thursday. Book Bingo takes place during the week.

Thank you, parents, for the delicious Teacher Appreciation luncheon we enjoyed on Thursday!

We begin the week ahead on Day 1.

Reading 

Students are busy reading with their book clubs. Please help your child to remember to read and return the book to school each day. After looking at the "shape" of stories (we discussed a story mountain where main characters go up and down through the story) and readers are now attending to the role secondary characters play. We are also looking at how characters resolve trouble when they are tested in the climax of a story.


Writing

Students are working on their first fairy tale adaptation. They are story-telling and acting out their story to improve their drafting. Please ask your child to tell you their story. The more times they tell their story the greater detail they will likely include in the written version. Students will work on balancing narration, action, and dialogue. You will get to see the drafting process at conferences.
We will Skype with Josh Funk on Tuesday to learn more about how he writes fairy tale adaptations.

Math

This week we are focusing on the attributes of 2D shapes, with particular attention to quadrilaterals. Some shapes can go by many names, for instance,  a square is: a special rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, and a quadrilateral.


Social Studies

We are continuing to look at social structure/government in ancient civilizations and will move on to belief systems and art and architecture.

Student Led Conferences

Your child is busy preparing for their Student Led Conference next week. S/he will lead you through the agenda and be ready to share learning from across the curriculum. Ms. Julie sent out a recent email detailing what this will look like. Your child will communicate with you in the language that is easiest for all of you. Plan on spending about 45 minutes in the classroom and then 15 minutes at a few "specialist" classes.

Thank you for your ongoing support.


*** In March students in 3EV will be invited to join an optional "challenge" called the Slice of Life Challenge which is a daily blogging challenge. I will be introducing it to the class on Tuesday and all students will be encouraged to participate. If your child wants to participate but is overwhelmed with home learning in addition encourage her/him to talk to me. You can learn a bit more about this here and as always please let me know if you have any questions.

Week of February 19, 2018

Good morning parents, 

I hope you all had a fantastic Chinese New Year. We had a short but wonderful week wrapping up our opinion writing, math unit, and beginning to delve into fairy tales. We loved watching the results as many book awards were announced from the US. We have read many "award winners" already this year. Students are also commenting on classmates' blogs. They know when they make a comment they need to be specific and can make connections or ask a question. Please take a look at your child's blog and post a comment to model this! What did you like about their post? What questions or connections do you have?

 Friday, the 23rd, ISKL will have our CNY celebration with an assembly from 11:30-12:15 in the gym. Feel free to join us! Students can dress in traditional Chinese clothing on this day. 

This week will start on day 2. 

Reading

Students will continue to study the characters in the books they read. Students will practice making predictions on what a character will do next, taking into account what they already know about the kinds of things he/ she tends to do, say, want again and again. Students will also begin book club groups. Students will choose which book their club will read and gather at the end of reading time to discuss what they read. Your child will come home with their book club book with assigned chapters to read. Please ensure the book goes back in their backpack when they finish so they have it for class the next day.

Writing

Students will begin writing fairy tales. During the first part of this unit, students will work on adapting a familiar fairy tale. Students reread the selected fairy tales, deciding upon which story element they will adapt.  From this point on, they see that changing one story element has a domino effect and affects the entire story. There are a few fairy tales in written and audio form posted on Classroom that your child can access.

For more information and ways to help at home please see our parent learning connection.

Math

We will begin our unit on Geometry. In this unit students will:

• Further, develop understandings of geometric figures by focusing on identification and descriptions of plane figures based on geometric properties.
• Identify examples and non-examples of plane figures based on geometric properties.
• Identify differences among quadrilaterals.
• Understand that shapes in different categories may share attributes and those attributes can define a larger category (example: rhombuses, rectangles, and others have four sides and are all called quadrilaterals).
• Expand the ability to see geometry in the real world.
• Draw plane figure shapes based on attributes.  
• Use data collected to make bar and picture graphs.
• Find the perimeter of polygons; use addition to find perimeters; solve for an unknown length and recognize the patterns that exist when finding the sum of the lengths and widths of rectangles.

Please see the previous post for more information.
Social Studies

Students will continue to look at the education, art/architecture and social structure of ancient civilizations.

Remember that home learning this week continues from last week. Student led conference appointments will come home this week. Thanks to those of you who wrote in with specific requests (and thanks for your flexibility to those who did not).

Have a great week ahead. Remember your child should bring a small gift (10 Rm or less) for their secret pal by Monday the 26th at the latest.

Week of February 12, 2018

Good morning parents,

It was a busy week of character studies and wrapping up opinion writing! Students also participated in the global school play day. It was great to reflect afterward on all the things students learned from this afternoon of play. Many of our SLRs were included as students were communicating effectively and collaborating constructively. Here is a great article that speaks more about the importance of free play.

Coming up in a few weeks is Student Led Conferences. These are scheduled on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8 and may take up to an hour. Your child will be the most important part of this conference, so they are required to attend. Please let me know by Wednesday in an email which day and what time of day would work best if you have a preference. 

Our week starts on day 5. Please note there is NO SCHOOL THURSDAY OR FRIDAY due to Chinese New Year.

Reading

We have begun our new unit on Character Studies. For more information and ways to help at home please visit our Parent Learning Connection Site.

Students will learn that readers grow inferences about their characters based on the character’s actions and words. Readers also notice patterns in their characters behavior, shifting and growing bigger theories about their characters as they continue to read. A reader’s initial theories about a character are usually the tip of much deeper thinking. Readers ask why the characters are the way they are.

Writing

We are wrapping up our opinion unit. Students will work on using the writing checklist to make their writing the best it can be, focusing on using grade level conventions, and saying more about each reason.

Math

We are finishing up our unit on Multiplication and Area. Students will continue to solve multi-step word problems and show their thinking on multiplication by building various area models.

Social Studies

Students will learn about the social organization of ancient civilizations. This includes government, leaders, and laws.